Sport shoe



E. BRUTTING Sept. 24, 19 68 SPORT SHOE Filed Oct. 24, 1966 4Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 2 2/9671 Zri/Zziy BY W 1% Sept. 1968 E.BRUTT|NG3,402,484

SPORT SHOE Filed Oct. 24, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR E. BRUTTINGSept. 24, 1968 SPORT SHOE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 24, 1966 f 2 4 @NZ 2 MB a P 1968 4 E. BRUTTING 3,402,484

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Unitcd States Patent 3,402,484 SPORT SHOE Eugen Briitting, HenfenfelderStrasse 17, Nurnberg-Schwaig, Germany Filed Oct. 24, 1966, Ser. No.589,067 Claims priority, application Germany, Oct. 22, 1965, B 84,211;Apr. 28, 1966, B 86,855 4 Claims. (Cl. 362.5)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A track shoe having an outer sole formed ofrelatively stiff material in the front part serving as a support onwhich cleats are secured, and relatively flexible parts in the toeand/or heel areas secured to the stiff part by gluing or welding. Thestiff part is made of nylon and the flexible part consists of creperubber.

The present invention relates to a sport shoe, and particularly arunning or track shoe, the outer sole of which is composed of asubstantially stiff front part and at least one flexible part whichextends toward the toe and/ or toward the heel part of the sole and issecured to the adjoining stiff part by gluing or welding. The stifffront part of the outer sole which is often made of nylon serves as asupport on which cleats or spikes are secured, while the flexible partwhich is connected to this stiff part of the sole is intended to improvethe grip of the sole on the ground which is especially important on ahard track such as one of asphalt. It is therefore made of a suitablematerial in accordance with the kind of ground on which it is to be usedand often consists of crepe rubber.

The sport shoes of this kind which were known prior to this inventionhave the disadvantage that under the extreme stresses to which suchshoes are often subjected the end of the flexible part of the outer solewhich is connected to the stiff part is easily severed therefrom. Afterthis flexible part has once started to come slightly off the other partof the outer sole adjacent to the connecting edges of the two parts, itwill very soon be torn off to a large extent or entirely from the shoe.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome this disadvantageof the sport shoes as were previously made by inserting the end of theflexible part adjoining the stiff part of the outer sole into a recesswhich is provided in the stiff part and extends transversely thereto sothat the edge of this adjoining end of the flexible part will be fullycovered by the stiff part of the sole and the flexible part will thus beeffectively protected from being torn off the shoe. Such insertion ofthe end of the flexible part adjoining the stiff part into a transverserecess in the latter has the further advantage that the two adjacentparts of the outer sole may be glued together much more securely thanthis was previously possible. Thus, for example, if the Width of therecess is made slightly smaller than the thickness of the flexible partof the sole so that, when the edge of the latter is inserted into thisrecess, the walls of the latter will tightly engage with the flexiblepart, the inserted edge portion may be securely glued on all sides tothe stiff part of the sole.

These and further features and advantages of the present invention willbecome more clearly apparent from the following detailed descriptionthereof which is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which- FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the bottom side of thestiff part of the outer sole;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the bottom side of the entire outersole before it is connected to the up- P ice FIG. 3 shows a perspectiveview of the front part of a sport shoe according to the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal section of the sport shoe according to FIGS.1 to 3;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a. sport shoe according to amodification of the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the upper side of the front part ofthe outer sole of the shoe according to FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a longitudinal section of a sport shoe according to afurther modification of the invention in which the stiff part of theouter sole is connected not only to a flexible sole portion extendingtoward the heel but also to one extending toward the toe; while FIGS. 8to 10 show longitudinal sections of the front part of the sport shoeaccording to three further modi fications of the invention withdifferent forms of connection between the stiff part of the outer soleand the flexible part extending toward the toe.

In the drawings, in which corresponding parts are des ignated by thesame reference numerals, the substantially stiff front part 1 of theouter sole, hereafter simply called a half-sole, consists of plastic.This half-sole 1 carries the spikes 2 which may be secured thereto inany conventional manner. At its rear end, the half-sole 1 is providedwith an extension 3 which is thinner than the main part of the half-soleand tapers toward a rear feathered edge, as shown particularly in FIGS.4 and 7. As shown particularly in FIG. 1, the two parts 1 and 3 areseparated by a stop which extends entirely across the sole and intowhich an angular notch 4 is either molded or milled. This notch 4 servesfor receiving the feathered front edge of a flexible outer-sole portion5 which extends toward the heel and may consist, for example, of a thinlayer of crepe rubber. The rear end of the flexible part 5 has rear andlateral extensions 6 and 7, as shown in FIG. 2, by means of which thissole part 5 is subsequently drawn upwardly along the upper 8, asillustrated in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 4 and 7 indicate that the rear part 5 of the outer sole 'fitstightly into the recess 4 which permits the two parts 1 and 5 of thesole to be very securely glued together. These drawings also show thatan insole 9 only covers the front part of the outer sole and that a heelcushion 10 is secured to the rear part of the shoe.

According to the further embodiment of the invention as illustrated inFIGS. 5 and 6, the marginal portions 5' of the flexible part 5 of theouter sole extend laterally over the recess 4 and the extension 3 of thehalf-sole 1 and are drawn laterally upward on the upper 8 to which theyare glued. Each of these marginal portions 5' is provided with aprojection 5" which faces toward the toe of the sole and is drawn overthe upper edge of the half-sole 1 and secured to the upper side of thelatter, for example, by gluing. In order to facilitate the operation ofdrawing the projections 5" over the upper side of the half-sole 1, anotch 11 is out between each projection 5" and the end of the edge ofthe sole portion 5 which engages into the step-shaped recess. This alsoimproves considerably the connection between the outer sole portions 1and 5.

In the course of manufacture of the shoe the two outer sole parts 1 and5 are preferably connected to each other in such a manner that theflexible sole part 5 is fitted into the recess 4 of the stiff sole part1 before these two sole parts 1 and 5 are secured to the upper. It isquite evident that these two sole parts may be manipulated much moreeasily before they are connected to the upper than when one of them hasalready been secured to the upper.

In the further embodiments of the invention as illustrated in FIGS. 7 to10, the stiff part 1 of the outer sole carries a separate" toe portion12 which may consist of rubber or plastic and is much more flexible andcompressible than the stiff sole part 1.

'In the embodiments according to FIGS. 7 to 9, the half-sole 1 extendsupto the tip of the toe but its toe portion 11, that is, the part in frontof the most forward spikes, is made considerably thinner than itsremainder and is therefore flexible. This extension 11 of the main partof the half-sole 1 is covered at the lower side by a layer 12 of rubberor plastic. The tread surface of the toe portion of the sole istherefore formed by this resilient layer 12 which will give the shoe abetter grip on the ground than the smooth part 1 of the half-sole. Inorder to prevent this toe piece 12 which is glued to' the extension 11from separating from the latter under the extreme stresses to which thetoe portion of a sport shoe is subjected, the rear end of this toe piece12 is inserted into a recess 13 in the stifl sole portion 1 so that itsrear edge is completely covered by the stiff part. The toe piece 12 mayfor this purpose be likewise provided with a feathered edge, asindicated in FIG. 7, or with a projection 14, as shown in FIGS. 8 and10, which fits into a corresponding transverse recess in the stiff solepart 1, while according to FIG. 9, the rear end of the toe piece 12engages upon a shoulder 13 on the sole part 1. In FIG. 10, the stiffsole part 1 does not extend at all into the toe portion of the sole andthis portion is therefore formed entirely by the rubber or plastic toepiece 12.

In the embodiment of the invention according to FIG. 7, the rubber orplastic toe piece 12 is folded over the front edge of the flexibleextension 11 of the half-sole 1 so as to protect the tip of the toeportion of the sole from being worn off prematurely.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with referenceto the preferred embodiments thereof, I wish to have it understood thatit is in no way limited to the details of such embodiments but iscapable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a sport shoe having an upper and an outer sole secured to saidupper and comprising a substantially stiff front part and at least oneflexible part extending in at least one longitudinal direction from andhaving a connecting end secured to said stiff part, at least one end ofsaid stiff part having a recess extending across said stiff part, saidconnecting end being inserted into said recess with the transverse edgeof said connectingend adjacent to said stiff partbeing fully covered bysaid stiff part, the lateral edge portions of said flexible part of saidouter sole extending laterally over said recess and being drawnlaterally upward on and secured to said upper.

2. A sport shoe as defined in claim 1, in which each of said lateraledge portions of said flexible sole part extending laterally over saidrecess is provided with a projection facing said stiff sole part andsecured to the upper side thereof.

3. A sport shoe as defined in claim 2, in which said flexible part isnotched between said projections and the ends of the edge which isinserted into said recess in said stiff sole part.

4. A sport shoe as defined in claim 1, in which the front end of saidflexible part forms the toe portion of said outer sole and the treadsurface of this part of said sole projects over and encloses the frontend of said stiff sole part and extends substantially to the tip of thetoe portion of the shoe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 468,223 2/1892 Hess 363l1,162,445 11/1915 Bostock 36-31 1,181,683 5/1916 Pierce 36-2.5 1,564,23212/1925 Golden 362.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 542,389 1 1932 Germany.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

